According to Chinese philosophy an organ in the body can he stressed or weakened. Each condition represents an entirely different method of addressing the client's concerns. I have found that understanding this information has helped to explain to clients what they will experience and what strategy they can begin to follow.

Stressed organs are merely healthy organs that have begun to cease accomplishing their respective tasks. Stress has placed a "tourniquet" around the affected organs and now the organ is beginning to diminish its respective functions. The strategy is to relax the organ and also relax the entire body. If the organ is stressed. The rest of the body has to be stressed.

Weakened organs are organs that are undernourished and not working at full capacity. The strategy is to feed the organ appropriate nutrients and let it begin to increase in strength as much as possible.

Our blood pH must be maintained at a slightly alkaline state. When we eat acid foods our blood pH immediately changes to an acid state. The body senses this and pours every available resource into returning the pH back to an alkaline state. The greatest alkalizer is calcium. Our body begins to borrow calcium from our bones, teeth or joints and the nerves.

Example: Figuratively, let's imagine that our optimal calcium level is 170 units. We may generally live with 130 units and have no symptoms. However, if we have 129 units, we start craving dairy.

If Joe is represented in Figure A, and he decides to eat a lunch of lasagna, coffee, and apple pie. Joe will require 30 units(hypothetically) of calcium to neutralize the acid content of the meal. All of his choices were acid foods. Figure A shows a start of 130 units of calcium and the requirement of 30 more units will cause Joe to be having calcium deficiency symptoms ( i. e. craving dairy, wanting to chew something, and having leg aches).

If Joe eats more acid foods, he may find it hard to sleep. If he takes some calcium (Let's say 10 units), he might sleep, but the next morning he'll have the same symptoms as the night before.

Figure B individual eats the same meal and because he has some reserve calcium units no symptoms appear. This individual starts out at 180 units of calcium and he consumes the same meal but because he has excess calcium to spare he never gets the symptoms.

Suggested foods to give up that seem to contribute to acidity
1. tomatoes, tomato sauce, catsup, hot sauce
2. sweets of any kind including artificial sweets
3. fruit juices, oranges and grapefruits
4. caffeine of any kind, colas or diet drinks
5. red meat this includes pork
6. fried foods, dairy (it's OK to have some milk for your cereal), and 2-3 eggs per week

This list isn't for the rest of your life. I am not prescribing this list to anyone. It has helped me to overcome my situations. Health is a lifestyle choice. Even the medical world is recognizing this.

Consider the following information on OSTEOPOROSIS:
"One of the big reasons for osteoporosis in this country is not due to a lack of calcium consumption, but to an excess of calcium loss," says Monique Martin, DO. "Even though we get plenty of calcium, we tend to lose it by things in our lifestyle," says Dr. Martin. "A big factor is soda. The colored sodas are loaded with phosphoric acid, which binds calcium. There's typically also caffeine in soda, which causes increased excretion of calcium and magnesium. And soda has a tremendous amount of sugar, which also causes the body to lose calcium. In having one soda a day, you're actually putting yourself quite at risk for osteoporosis. Smoking, as well as medications such as steroids, also cause an increased risk of osteoporosis," Dr. Martin explains. ([i]From Whole Health News[/i])